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In
Solidarity Together We Stand
Radio
Lumbini gave a loving hand to the thousands of displaced people
in the Kabilvastu district by organising a solidarity concert.
The concert accumulated more than 157.000 rupee to help the victims
By Malene Lærke, Communication Advisor, Community Radio
Madan Pokhara
It is the 4th of June 2005 at Kanti Ma. Vi – a secondary school
in Butwal. Today, the school yard has been transformed into a
concert arena. More than a thousand people have come and they
have begun to enjoy the concert. Outside on the streets the local
police are helping out the radio by selling tickets at the last
minute. Everybody does their best to make this concert a success.
Behind the stage the famous musicians from Kathmandu sit and wait
to go onstage. They sit relaxed in red plastic chairs and sign
autographs with the sun glasses as permanent star equipment on
the noses and the hair sticking out in all the right directions.
The stars from Kathmandu have come to Butwal with style and now
it is time to party to get the conflict at arms length. This afternoon
is like most afternoons; Butwal is sizzling with heat that feels
like a hot, clammy dishcloth on the skin. Young boys surrounds
the stars and presents small creased bits of papers in order to
get the very much sought after autograph from Sanjeev Shing, a
Nepali pop star currently topping the Nepali music charts. The
police is guarding the entrance to the concert arena and their
black boots bobs up and down to the beat of the music while the
hands have a firm grip on the rifles. Solidarity Musical Programme
is written on a big banner serving as the background of the stage.
And solidarity is what this concert is all about.
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“Solidarity
is helping from the heart. It is a way of telling people that
I am also here and that you are not alone and you do so with your
heart and not with your brain.” The words come from Durga Aryal,
in daily life programme coordinator at Radio Lumbini, these days
more of an event manager for the concert and chairing the concert
organisational committee.
“If we took out solidarity we would only be helping but that is
not enough. We have to be with people in need also in our feelings,”
adds station manager at Radio Lumbini, Mohan Chapagain.
The atrocities in Kabilvastu
The people who are in need of solidarity are the victims in Kabilvastu.
After a string of violent incidents in mid February many people
in the region are suffering. Tens of thousands have been displaced
from their homes and there is a great need of food, housing and
clothing.
The idea to help the victims in Kabilvastu came after a series
of visits to the district to monitor the situation and many talks
to people about how they feel. The radio felt that something had
to be done to help but the crucial question was how to do it the
right way with the right spirit.
“Many members from our listener clubs asked us: why don’t you
use the listener clubs to help the victims in Kabilvastu? It touched
us deeply. At a club seminar with listener clubs and the community
reporters, we sat together and in cooperation we got the idea
about a concert in solidarity with the victims. We thought a concert
would be a good way to raise awareness about the victims and their
problems,” tells Durga Aryal.
The message about solidarity has gone through to the listener
clubs and the hope is that standing together can promote peace.
“This is a matter of promoting peace and this can teach people
to stand together in the time of need. If people stand together
we can make a difference and that is an important message to get
out,” says representative for the listener clubs, Durga Aryal.
He is sure that the concert means a lot for the people in the
affected areas in Kabilvastu.
“At the moment people feel fear in all things and experience a
lot of pressure from both sides of the conflict, but this shows
them that other people feel love for them. We feel proud to be
part of this,” he says firmly.
Solidarity and much more
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Saroj Dutta
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The
concert is about solidarity but it is also about having fun. –
We have come here to meet with our friends and I think this programme
can bring peace to us. This concert brings peace to me today because
it makes me able to forget what there is happening around me.
Today the conflict is far away, says Punya Prasad Dahal – a young
man that has invited his wife out. And the conflict is far away
this afternoon.
The youth in Butwal has come to the concert to shine in their
Western clothes. The youth is seen in gleams in the daily picture
of Butwal but today they have come together to enjoy the concert.
Three girls stroll by with all the grace they can master in short
skirts that shows the shape of their knees. They have found out
that naked skin is sex appeal when you are a teenager and that
the traditional kurta suruwal does not make the young men’s hearts
beat faster. They bustle about the best they have learned in front
of the mirror. The boys from the country side stand in a row and
cannot believe their own eyes. They are used to girls who are
decently dressed in sufficient fabric where it is hard to see
what there is front or back.
The concept of solidarity seems to have sunk in with the audience:
“Solidarity means unity. We have to help in the name of humanity.
This can motivate the victims. One person cannot do anything but
when we are a lot we can move mountains. Unity is sufficient to
help in the case of Nepal,” says Dabal Bahadur Gurung.
“We are all one. We are all members of the same family and we
should not fight each other and we should help all people. The
main purpose of this concert is really good and there should be
more of this,” says Tony Hamal while he with his right hand makes
the universal sign of peace.
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Sanjeev Singh
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Sanjeev
Sing gets on stage and the girls start squealing and are on the
verge to faint. The girls in Butwal know how to treat a star and
massage his ego. There is a long way to the gentle quiet girls
in sari. Here the sari has been blown away by star power and a
beating teenager heart beats fast no matter what culture has taught
it. After 10 minutes Sanjeev Shing is backstage again. He has
delivered what he came for with a small incentive as a bonus.
“I have come to help the underprivileged and I have come to help
the Nepali people, say Sanjeev Shing that sits relaxed in the
red plastic chair and mass-produces autographs.
“I was so sad when I heard about what happened in Kabilvastu because
we are all brothers although we are fighting each other – they
are not fighting an enemy but each other. Here in Nepal we are
not for war – we are for peace and what I am trying to do today
is to make people feel good. That is my contribution,” he states.
Sanjeev Shing is just one of the altogether 11 bands and solo
artists going on stage in solidarity with the victims. The music
at the concert ranges from sweet pop and traditional Nepali music
to heavy metal of the kind that falls into the category death
metal that tears through the air waves with the precision of a
razor blade. The local music scene is aired with maximum full
blast and the crowd love it.
Solidarity is hard work
It has been two busy months preparing for the concert. A huge
jigsaw has had to be put together with sponsors, advertising,
get the musicians to do the concert for free and food among many
other things. It has been hard work for the small community radio
and it has drawn on all available resources in the organisation.
But as a community radio it is a job that needs to be done.“We are based in the community and work for the community. The
pain of the community is also ours and we have to share that burden.
When I heard about the solidarity concert I knew this was what
we had to do,” explains Mohan Chapagain.“We have to inform the people about the problems in Kabilvastu
and to express solidarity as a community radio,” adds Durga Aryal.
The tickets to the concert costs 100 and 200 rupees. The important
thing about the concert is not to raise money for the victims
but to raise awareness about the situation in the district. In
the beginning the plan was that people could pay an amount of
money on a bank account and that people could contribute with
food and blankets. That plan was after many discussions rejected.
“We decided to focus entirely on the concert. This is our first
experience with doing a concert and we want to do a good job.
Our primary focus is not the money but to create awareness and
advocate for solidarity,” Durga Aryal states.
Three times Durga Aryal has tried to get into the troubled area
where the displaced people are living but did not succeed because
of the security situation.”According to what I have heard people have many difficulties.
They have no houses, they have lost their families, many were
killed, there is not enough food and people live in fear. I try
to imagine the fear that they have and what they must feel – that
they cannot sleep at night,” he says.
Difficult to get help out
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Local Singer |
The
staffs at Radio Lumbini knows it is going to be difficult to get
the help through. “We are working together with socially trusted
organisations. In the perspective of humanity we have to help,”
says Durga Aryal. “It is our responsibility to help. If we are
afraid of military and Maoists who will then help the victims?”
asks Mohan Chapagain. To make sure that no one can blame the radio
for organising the concert in order to earn money, a public audit
will be published in the local newspapers. Later it will also
be published how the money was spent to help the victims.
Back in the school yard the concert is about to end. The local
band Prakat give all they have got in the local style of grunge.
The crowd loves it and dances around with their arms in the air
and bashing through the shielding in front of the stage. They
dances with their eyes closed and flow with the music. The security
people try to calm down the crowd but without any luck. The youth
dances the dance of life until the concert stops and it is time
to go home. Tomorrow the conflict will continue.
Fact box:
A total of 1281 tickets were sold and the concert generated a
surplus of 137.970 Rupees.
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